This scoping review examines why individuals and families in Western countries choose to foster or adopt children with disabilities, identifying motivations such as altruism, personal values, commitment to caregiving, and perceived family enrichment. The findings highlight opportunities to strengthen recruitment and support strategies by aligning messaging and services with these motivations to improve care stability and outcomes.

ISS and ISS West Africa, in collaboration with the child protection authorities of Burkina Faso, have been implementing since 2018 a pilot programme of specialised foster families for children living with disabilities. After six years of implementation, ISS has undertaken a capitalisation process to analyse and document this pilot experience and identify the main lessons learned, with a view to strengthening and potentially scaling up the project at a national level.

This technical brief highlights parenting support strategies and interventions that can benefit parents and help them create better spaces for children with developmental delays and disabilities to thrive. The brief includes data on children with developmental delays and disabilities and features country examples from around the world.

This study explores the challenges faced by young people with disabilities in Japan after leaving residential care, finding they often struggle with adapting to new environments, managing their health, and accessing consistent support. It highlights the need for more structured, long-term support systems to help them successfully transition to independent living.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with disabilities are overrepresented in child welfare systems, yet little is known about their experiences; this study draws on yarning sessions with 46 kinship carers in Western Australia as part of the I-CaRe WA project. Findings highlight barriers to disability assessments and services, underscoring the urgent need for reforms, improved training, and better support to enhance outcomes for both carers and children.

The brief outlines a nurturing care approach for early childhood development that integrates health, nutrition, safety, responsive caregiving, and early learning to support children’s well-being and long-term outcomes. It highlights that children with developmental delays and disabilities face heightened risks of exclusion and calls for inclusive, family-centered policies and services that strengthen community-based support and ensure equitable access to care.

El presente informe contiene las conclusiones, las observaciones y las recomendaciones adoptadas por el Comité sobre los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad sobre el procedimiento de investigación de violaciones graves o sistemáticas que se establece en el artículo 6 del Protocolo Facultativo de la Convención.

This report contains the conclusions, observations, and recommendations adopted by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities regarding the procedure for investigating serious or systematic violations established in Article 6 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention.

This paper explores the experiences of informal caregivers in South Africa supporting youth with intellectual disabilities and/or autism as they transition from residential care to adulthood. It finds that caregivers play a vital role but face significant challenges, including inadequate transition planning, limited aftercare services, and insufficient formal support.

This study explores why deinstitutionalisation has not always achieved its intended results in the Czech Republic by examining the experiences of practitioners involved in care reform. It finds that conflicting views—between paternalistic approaches and rights-based perspectives—create misunderstandings and challenges in implementing reforms, highlighting the need for stronger change management and collaboration among professionals.